What is Mission Indradhanush?

• Mission Indradhanush was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India on December 25, 2014
• The aim is to fully immunize more than 89 lakh children who are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated under UIP.
• It targets children under 2 years of age and pregnant women for immunization.
• It provides vaccination against 12 Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD)
• It is a nationwide initiative with a special focus on 201 high focus districts.
• The rate of increase in full immunization coverage increased to 6.7% per year through the first two phases of ‘Mission Indradhanush’.

Ambedkar Social Innovation & Incubation Mission

• The Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot launched Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission for the Scheduled Castes.
• Aim is to promote innovation and enterprise among SC students studying in higher educational institutions through Venture Capital Fund.
• The Ministry had launched the Venture Capital Fund for SCs in 2014-15
• It was for developing entrepreneurship amongst the SC and Divyang youth and to enable them to become job-givers.
• The objective of this fund is to provide concessional finance to the entities of the SC entrepreneurs.
• Under this fund, 117 companies promoted by SC entrepreneurs have been sanctioned financial assistance to set up business ventures.
• Under the mission one thousand SC youth will be identified in the next four years with start-up ideas through the Technology Business Incubators in various higher educational institutions.
• They will be funded 30 lakh rupees in three years as equity funding.
• Successful ventures would further qualify for venture funding of up to five Crore rupees.

‘Tribes India e-Marketplace’

• Shri Arjun Munda, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs will virtually launch India’s largest handicraft and organic products marketplace, Tribes India E-Marketplace.
• The market place is an initiative of TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India).
• The e- marketplace aims to onboard 5 lakh tribal producers for sourcing of various handicraft, handloom, natural food products across the country and brings to you the best of tribal produce.
• The minister will also launch several other TRIFED initiatives. They are as follows
• Inauguration of 123rd and 124th tribal outlet at Rishikesh and Kolkata.
• The minister will also launch 100% natural honey that were gathered by Santhal Tribals from Pakur, Jharkhand. The honey has been named “Pakur Honey”.

PM Modi to inaugurate world’s longest highway tunnel ‘Atal Tunnel’

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate Atal Tunnel, Rohtang.
• It is the longest highway tunnel in the world.
• It is 9.02 Km long tunnel which connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout the year.
• Earlier the valley was cut off for about 6 months each year owing to heavy snowfall.
• The Tunnel is built with ultra-modern specifications in the Pir Panjal range of Himalayas at an altitude of 3000 Mtrs (10,000 Feet) from the Mean Sea Level (MSL).
• It is horse shoe shaped, single tube double lane tunnel with a roadway of 8 Mtrs.
• The tunnel will be a boon to the residents of the Lahaul and Spiti Valley who remain cut off from the rest of the country in winters for nearly six months due to heavy snowfall.
• The tunnel will provide almost all-weather connectivity to the troops stationed in Ladakh.

2 October: Gandhi Jayanti

• Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2nd October,1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat.
• He is remembered for his unforgettable contribution in the struggle of freedom.
• In 2007, the UN General Assembly came up with a resolution to launch the International Day of Non-Violence.
• The first International Day of Non-Violence was on October 2, 2007.

Current COVID19 Situation in India

QUIZ TIME

International Day of Non-Violence is observed on:

1. 1^st October
2. 2^nd October
3. 3^rd October
4. 4^th October

Answer – B

Venture Capital Fund for SCs was launched in:

1. 2014
2. 2020
3. 2019
4. 2010

Answer – A

PM Modi to inaugurate world’s longest highway tunnel, name of the tunnel is:

1. Modi Tunnel
2. Indira Gandhi Tunnel
3. Atal Tunnel
4. Gandhi Tunnel

Answer – C

Question of the Day

What are the key features of Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana?

Answer in next session…